Insert `dynamic` object into MongoDB in .NET

Question

I have a dynamic object being used as a parameter on a ApiController. e.e:

public class Shape
{
    public dynamic Coordinates { get; set; }

    public string Id { get; set; }

    public string Type { get; set; }
}

The coordinates for any shape are different, a circle will have a centre and radius, a line has an x1, y1, x2, y2 etc.

I am trying to store this object in Mongo.

What I am hoping for is:

{
    "Shapes": [
        {
            "Coordinates": {
                    "x1": 1,
                    "y1": 2,
                    "x2": 3,
                    "y2": 4
                }
            },
            "Type": "line"
        },
        {
            "Coordinates": "{ "x" : 10, "y" : 20, "r" : 30,},
            "Type": "circle"
        }
    ],
}

When I use BsonExtensionMethods.ToJson(coordinates) I get

{
    "Shapes": [
        {
            "Coordinates": "{ \"x1\" : [], \"y1\" : [], \"x2\" : [], \"y2\" : [] }",
            "Type": "line"
        }
    ],
}

When I use (JObject) coordinates I get:

{
    "Shapes": [
        {
            "Coordinates": {
                "_t": "Newtonsoft.Json.Linq.JObject, Newtonsoft.Json, Version=4.5.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=30ad4fe6b2a6aeed",
                "_v": {
                    "x1": [

                    ],
                    "y1": [

                    ],
                    "x2": [

                    ],
                    "y2": [

                    ]
                }
            },
            "Type": "line"
        }
    ],
}

I'd rather not haver to resort to storing it as a string. How do I convince .NET that I want to store the dynamic object's values?

Would you mind pasting the code that creates and populates and instance of the Shape class? — Jesus Ruiz
– Jesus Ruiz, Commented Sep 19, 2013 at 5:55

visualzhou · Accepted Answer · 2013-09-19 21:47:39Z

1

Dynamic type is not support by MongoDB C# driver so far, sadly. But it is planned to be included in v2.0.

Probably towards the end of year, likely in conjunction with server 2.6.

You could track this issue here and vote for this feature. https://jira.mongodb.org/browse/CSHARP-539

answered Sep 19, 2013 at 21:47

visualzhou

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Brian Langbecker · Accepted Answer · 2013-10-24 21:20:05Z

0

Having done something similar in a different NoSQL database (FatDB) that has a similar issue, have you considered using JSON.NET to serialize it to a string and simply store the string in a class?

If you use an ExpandoObject (a type of dynamic object), you should be able to serialize it, toss the results into a string that goes into MongoDB and pull it out later on using a uniqueId. I have not tried that specifically with MongoDB, but at that point your dynamic object is nothing more than a string. When you pull it out, you de-serialize the JSON and you have your ExpandoObject back.

answered Oct 24, 2013 at 21:20

Brian Langbecker

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